Spring Salamander

About the Spring Salamander

The spring salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus) is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae (lungless salamanders). It is found in Canada and the United States. The genus, Gyrinophilus, means "tadpole lover" and refers to the long period of time it spends as a gilled larva before maturing. The specific epithet, porphyriticus, is Latin from Greek, meaning the color of porphyry, a purple stone, and this salamander has also been called the purple salamander.

Its natural habitats are temperate forests, rivers, swamps, freshwater marshes, freshwater springs, inland karsts, and caves. In addition to insects, spiders, mites, millipedes, centipedes, slugs, snails, annelid worms, and other small invertebrates, the fairly large spring salamander may also consume smaller stream dwelling salamanders and their eggs, such as two-lined and dusky salamanders, as well as pygmy, ocoee, Jordan's, southern red-backed, southern Appalachian, and red salamanders. They are also known to be cannibalistic.

They are considered salamander specialists in some areas, such as the mountains of North Carolina, where between 40 and 50% of their adult diets may consist of other salamanders. Although deforestation is a potential threat, the spring salamander occurs in many protected areas and is not listed as threatened in the IUCN Red List. Wikipedia →